An unknown trader lost $68 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) in a single transaction due to an address poisoning scam.
The $68 million theft was first disclosed by on-chain security company Cyvers in an X post on May 3.
“Are we mistaken or did someone actually lose $68 million worth of WBTC? “Our system detected another address victimized to resolve the addiction, resulting in a loss of 1,155 $WBTC.”
According to CoinStats, the victim, wallet “0x1E,” lost more than 97% of its total assets, or more than $67.8 million in value.
Address poisoning, also known as address spoofing, aims to take advantage of traders’ carelessness and impatience when making transactions. This involves tricking victims into sending digital assets to the scammer’s fraudulent address.
Related: ZKasino fraud suspect arrested, $12.2 million seized by Dutch authorities
April fraud hits record low of $25 million
Fraud continues to threaten mainstream trust in the cryptocurrency industry. Last April, investors lost at least $33 million in digital assets due to a fraud incident surrounding the ZKasino gambling platform. Dutch authorities arrested a suspect in connection with the ZKasino scam on April 29.
Despite the ZKasino incident, only $25.7 million in cryptocurrency value was lost to fraud and hacking in April. This is the lowest historical figure since 2021, when on-chain intelligence company CertiK began tracking the data.
According to the report, losses due to hacks, exploits and fraud decreased by 141% compared to the previous month. This reduction is primarily due to the lack of private key compromise. While there were only three private key leaks in April, there were more than 11 private key compromise attacks in March.
However, CertiK’s figures do not include the $33 million ZKasino scam. The report calls the project ‘controversial’ but has not yet labeled it a scam.
On April 22, ZKasino transferred all 10,515 Ethereum (ETH) deposited by investors to the Lido staking protocol, increasing investor concerns. CertiK’s report said the company would update the numbers if ZKasino is confirmed to be a malicious actor.
Related: Lazarus Group has laundered more than $200 million in hacked cryptocurrencies since 2020.